


The Devil's Face

by SunnyBot



Series: The Demon's Apprentice [1]
Category: Villainous (Cartoon)
Genre: Blood Magic, Contracts, Dark Magic, Deception, Demon Deals, Demon Summoning, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Major Original Character(s), Self-Harm, Soul Selling, Suicidal Thoughts, Tags May Change, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:55:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26656993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunnyBot/pseuds/SunnyBot
Summary: When a young witch with an affinity for the dark arts attempts to perform a ritual which will grant them an audience with the world's most powerful demon, they find the creature which they encounter to be much more... "villainous" than they could ever imagine.Alternatively:Black Hat accidentally adopts a suicidal murder child.
Series: The Demon's Apprentice [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950934
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	The Devil's Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young witch finds their plans disrupted by an unforeseen complication.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The Devil's Face" refers to a game in which a lone player performs a ritual to gaze upon the face of Satan himself. While the game is easy to play and appears completely harmless, it is highly advised that you avoid playing this game AT ALL COSTS. After all, why would the devil allow a mere mortal to gaze upon his face without paying a price?
> 
> Other Notes:
> 
> \- The word "Maldita" is the spanish feminine form of "Maldito" which means "cursed" or "damned".  
> \- The character Maldita is nonbinary and they use both feminine and neutral pronouns, which is why their pronouns are constantly switching. If the use of both becomes too confusing, I will edit the story so only the gender neutral pronouns are used.  
> \- Maldita is thirteen, almost fourteen.

Maldita sighed as they stared down at the summoning circle before them, the flames of its thirteen candles flickering brightly in a hypnotic dance. For a moment, they could feel the unforgiving heat against their flesh once more, before hugging themself tightly, the comfort of their sweater immediately bringing them back to reality.

They needed to act fast. Their bastard of an uncle could come stumbling back home any second now, and they couldn't risk any interruptions. Not yet. Not Now.

Hesitantly, Maldita drew their dagger toward their wrist, hastily unwrapping the bandages on their hand before daring to make a cut. They pressed the blade to their wrist slowly, but the moment they had managed to draw blood, they found themself sawing gleefully into their wrist, greedily taking in every searing tinge of pain as brief stroke of triumph before their momentary need for carnage finally subsided. Had it not been for the urgency of the situation, Maldita would have gladly sawed their hand off- or at the very least, she would have begun cutting somewhere else. It wouldn't have been the first time she had dismembered herself in order to satisfy her need for destruction, though considering the circumstances, it probably would have been the last.

Carefully, Maldita transcribed the runes in the middle of the circle before hastily re-wrapping the bandages on their wrist. Satisfied with her work, she stepped back and sat cross-legged a few feet away from the circle, before flipping to a page in a thick, dusty tome and reading the incantation. As they spoke, they found themself struggling to swallow back the blood welling up in the back of their throat as the spell began to take hold, though they continued, completely undeterred by the risk of choking on their own blood. By the time she had finished, the blood had begun to dribble down the sides of their mouth, and Maldita quickly wiped the blood off of her face, desperately hoping it hadn't stained their sweater. The stain wouldn't have been very noticeable, considering the room's lighting and their sweater's dark color, but the blood would have been a pain to wash out, and if things were to go as planned, Maldita doubted that they'd have any access to a washing machine once they had reached their final destination. 

After inspecting her sweater for a moment and failing to find any evidence of a stain, Maldita stared at the circle in silent anticipation as they waited for their guest to arrive. When a minute had passed and the circle had remained inactive, Maldita quickly stood, her gaze shifting between the pages in her tome and the still inactive circle as she scrutinized both for any mis-steps or flaws, but when she found none, she snarled and flung the book against the wall above their bed, causing several pages to fly out upon impact. Enraged, she grabbed her ritual knife and hurled it at the spot where the book had crashed into the wall moments before, before lunging towards her bed and stabbing the wall over and over again. When they found that the wall had not taken nearly as much damage as they had hoped, they yanked at their hair before banging their head against the wall until it started to bleed. Still not satisfied by the destruction their tantrum had wrought, they turned their rage towards their carefully crafted circle, sending salt flying and knocking candles over as they kicked and smashed what had once been the fruits of two years of labor. But it was in this rampage that the half-destroyed summoning circle had finally activated, and the moment one of the flames had landed on the bloody runes, the remains of the circle were set ablaze, and Maldita found herself thrown back and pinned to the wall as years of research, planning, and scheming finally paid off. 

The circle roared as billowing energy cascaded from it's gaping maw, and in a flash it was gone, leaving behind a thick reddish fog as the force which had kept Maldita momentarily glued to the wall slowly released them from it's grasp. Winded, they slid back down the wall and landed on their feet before their legs buckled and they were forced to hold onto the bed frame for support. She looked back at the wall, wincing for a moment as she noticed the deep cracks which had been made by her impact, before turning to face the guest in her circle. Maldita had opened her mouth in hopes of making an acceptable greeting, but by the time they had caught sight of their guest, their words had died in their throat. 

Standing in the middle of the circle was something that appeared to be a sharply dressed man with a long overcoat, a monocle, grey skin, and comically tall top hat, glaring at them with an expression so twisted with rage that it had probably been meant to kill them. In one hand, he held a cane, in the other, the shredded remnants of a newspaper. Were it not for the circumstances, Maldita would have laughed at him. Maldita had asked hell to send her the most powerful demon it had to offer, and rather than one such as Lucifer or Abbadon, it had sent her a _villain_.

Maldita had worked their ass off for two yearspreparing for this moment, and hellhad sent her a walking cartoonish stereotype of a _villain._

Dumbfounded, Maldita took a few steps back, unsure of what to say, think, or even do.

It seemed their plan needed some last minute adjustments.


End file.
